Raven's Blood

by Cassandra Lawson

Chapter Seven

  Raven arched against the hand between her legs in a desperate attempt to relieve the almost painful arousal building inside of her. She heard the rumbling growl beside her and felt the fingers press against her clit through the fabric of her clothing. She was dreaming, just like so many other times. Dreaming of the sweet release and hoping she wouldn’t wake up until it came.

  When hard lips crashed down onto her mouth, her eyes flew open, and she stared up at her enemy. His eyes were wide as he kissed her, watching her reaction. All the while, his fingers continued to move deftly against her, and her traitorous body rocked against them. Her mouth opened wide for his tongue.

  He pulled away from her slightly and rasped out, “Tell me to stop, and I will.”

  Her brain clicked on, trying to override her nymph sex drive. “I can’t do this,” she said desperately. “Please.” Even she wasn’t sure what she was begging for.

  When Connor moved back and took his hand away. She thrashed on the bed and moaned, unsure why she felt this feverish need for him. As a nymph, she craved sex more than humans, but this was insane.

  He quickly untied her hands as if sensing what she needed, and Raven immediately reached between her own legs, bringing herself to climax. His eyes were glazed over as he watched her hand move under her pants with rapt attention.

  When the spasms finally subsided, she took her hand out of her panties and gave him a nervous smile. This was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of her life. It’s not like she never had these types of sex moments. She was a wood nymph who had lived among humans. Naturally, this sort of thing had happened with other men, but they hadn’t been vampires. They hadn’t been people holding her captive.

  “Does this happen often?” he asked with a noticeable strain in his voice.

  Lying on his side next to her, he absently stroked her belly. His erection pressed against her thigh, making her wonder why he hadn’t taken advantage of the situation. It certainly wouldn’t have been rape when she was like this.

  She closed her eyes and nodded. “Yes,” she admitted. “I can control it better when I’m awake, but when I’m asleep, it’s kind of overwhelming.” She refused to admit it had actually been worse with him so close to her.

  “Fuck!” he cursed. “Okay, we really need to get you settled into your own room quickly. If this happens too many times, I’ll be in you before I remember why it’s a bad idea. I don’t need to give you any more reasons to hate me.”

  “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I probably should have warned you.”

  He was taken aback by the nymph’s apology. “I’m the one who should be apologizing,” he argued. “You having a sex dream doesn’t give me the right to climb on top of you.” He stood and walked away from the bed to put some distance between them. It was crazy, but he was still drawn to her body. The last thing he intended to do was treat her like a sex slave, but that’s exactly what pawing at her while she was tied to his bed had been. “Christ, I’m sorry. I said I wouldn’t hurt you, yet I attacked you.”

  “It’s not completely your fault,” Raven admitted as she sat and rubbed her arms. “Actually, it’s mostly my fault.”

  He turned to her and shook his head. “Listen, I know it may seem that way. It’s normal for victims to blame themselves. You’re trying to think about what you could have done differently.”

  “Oh, so now you’re trying to psychoanalyze me?” she asked, sounding surprisingly amused.

  “I just don’t like you blaming yourself for my actions.”

  “I can release strong pheromones when I’m aroused. It’s a nymph thing,” she admitted with no embarrassment. “We do it to draw partners to us when we want them. I’m sure you were half-asleep yourself, and the pheromones are a strong lure. I would bet you’re still fighting them a little.”

  He was struggling to stay away from her. His body ached with need, and his fangs ached with the desire to sink into her flesh.

  “How often should I expect this kind of thing?” he asked. It was hard to resist the urge to climb back into bed with her. Part of him wondered if she would recoil now that she was fully awake. That thought acted like a cold shower. Meaning it didn’t rid him of his arousal, but it made him uncomfortable enough that he could think straight.

  “I can control it most of the time when I’m awake,” she explained. “I think it’s worse when I’m asleep because I have to work so hard to control it when I’m awake. When I lived with other nymphs, I just had sex when I felt like it, so I didn’t need to worry about controlling my nature. Adjusting to human rules about sex was difficult for me. Don’t even get me started about the clothing thing.”

  “You didn’t wear clothes before?” he asked and then tried hard to get that image out of his mind.

  “It’s much easier to have spontaneous sex when everyone is naked. And now I’m babbling about sex and nudity.”

  He nodded. “All right, we are definitely getting you your own room today.” he stated, almost laughing at her shocked expression. “Why does that surprise you?”

  She shrugged. “I basically told you it wouldn’t have been your fault if you’d had sex with me this morning. You still seem to want to, yet you’re going to pass on a chance to take advantage of me tomorrow. I’m not complaining. I just didn’t expect that.”

  “Ah, but now that I know all this, it would be no better than rape if I slept in the same bed with you tonight just so I’d have an excuse to fuck you in the morning. In the end, you’d hate me more than you already do, and you’d be right to feel that way.”

  Her brow furrowed in thought. “I didn’t expect you to be so . . .”

  “Sexy?” he asked with a grin. “Completely irresistible? Impressively hung?”

  Her cheeks flushed. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

  “I get it,” he told her. “You didn’t expect me to act almost human. I’m supposed to be a monster driven by his desires. I’m supposed to fuck you or drain you whenever the mood strikes me.” He couldn’t keep the anger from his voice.

  “Well,” she began with an edge to her voice, “you keep telling me you own me. You say you can do whatever you want.”

  “Fine,” he relented with a sigh, “I’ve been a dick. I’ll probably continue to be a dick. The situation isn’t exactly ideal for me either.”

  “Yet you have a choice.”

  “You had a choice, too,” he said softly. “Now we both have to live with it.” Without another word, he walked into the bathroom and stepped into the shower where he intended to take care of his arousal before he did something stupid.